if you take, for example, china policy i think that he may be reluctant to react to a china which is very different from the way it was in the past. >> brown: let me bring david ignatius back. i guess it depends on what you think is needed right now, right? >> i think the world's a mess as kerry believes. he's right. and needs a strong american voice. needs the sort of steady hand that some of these experiences can bring. i point i would make about kerry is that although he often comes across as a stiff, as an establishment figure very form layic, in terms of shall ideas an willness-- willingness to engage adversaries, reach out and try to find a channel to iran, for example, reach out to the palestinians, try to think of new ways to deal with the arab world, kerry is on the more innovative side. so i think he is not going to be a wild radical-- the country will miss having someone like susan rice who is a younger, different voice. but i think that kerry-- it's wrong to think of kerry of just being a throwback to 30 years ago. >> brown: is it clear still that this is a second choice